Lyons striving for third consecutive outdoor national championship and eighth overall; Olson successfully defends high jump title

May 22, 2003

CANTON, NY- The two-time defending national champion Wheaton College women's track and field team began its quest for a third straight sweep of an indoor and outdoor national title today at St. Lawrence University's Merrick-Pinkard Track and Field Complex. Striving for a third consecutive outdoor national championship, the Lyons put themselves in great position in the opening day of the three-day meet. On the men's side, sophomore Dan Olson (Voorheesville, NY/Albany Academy) successfully defended his high jump national championship by winning the event this afternoon.

Junior Vernick Smith (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) highlighted the day for the women with an impressive performance in the trials of the 400-meter hurdle event, shattering the Wheaton all-time record with a time of 60.95. Smith's time bettered the old Merrick-Pinkard Track mark and in the process broke a two-year old school record, which was set by Wheaton standout Tenille Johnson '01. Smith also holds the Wheaton record in the 100M, as she sped to an 11.75 finish at last week's Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championship.

In addition to Smith, a pair of Wheaton athletes had their sights set on defending individual national crowns in the 200-meter dash and long jump events. Junior Amber James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) fared well in the 200M trials, advancing to Saturday's finals with a time of 25.43. One year ago, James captured top honors with a school-record time of 23.73, a finish that was a mere one one-hundredth of a second short of the NCAA meet mark. Sophomore Tessa Donoghue (Springfield, MA/Cathedral), who entered the meet as the defending national champion in the long jump with a distance of 19' 4", did not qualify for this afternoon's finals. Donoghue placed seventh in her flight with a mark of 18' 1".

In the relay events, both the 4x100M and 4x400M teams advanced to Saturday's finals with a pair of impressive races. In the 4x100M, the team of Smith, Amber James, sophomore Jessica Allegra (East Hampton, CT/East Hampton) and first-year Aspen James (Woodbury, MN/Woodbury) finished second in their heat with a time of 47.10. Entering the 4x400M with the second fastest time at the Division III level this year and as the defending national champions in the event, the team of Amber James, Donoghue, senior Jana Bromell (Spencer, MA/David Prouty) and freshman Oly Wirtz (Fitchburg, MA/Fitchburg) posted the top time in the second heat, finishing in 3:48.76. Both relay teams bettered the old Merrick-Pinkard Track record.

In other events on the afternoon, first-year Noelle Battista (Warwick, RI/Toll Gate) made her first national meet appearance a memorable one, finishing 11th in the pole vault with a height of 11' 7". Other Wheaton athletes that competed but did not advance past the preliminaries included junior Kim Spence (Barrington, NH/Dover) in the 400-meter hurdles and Aspen James in the 200-meter dash. Spence and James each placed fifth in their respective heats.

For the men, Olson defended his high jump title by tying the NCAA Division III season-best height of 7' 1", which he set earlier this spring at the Brown University Invitational. Setting a new Merrick-Pinkard Track record, Olson finishes the 2003 indoor and outdoor seasons by finishing as the top collegiate competitor in an impressive 19 of the 20 competitions he entered this year.

The Wheaton women had a program-high tying 13 athletes qualify for the national competition, while Olson was the sole representative for the men. On Friday, competition begins at 10:30 a.m. with the women's hammer throw.

Last updated on 5/23/03.
Send questions about this page to Scott Dietz or contact Wheaton College.

News Headlines

Five Wheaton tracksters, both programs earn national academic accolades (more)

Weekly Lyon Update: Men's and Women's Track & Field (more)

Eight women earn All-America honors, Wheaton takes 23rd at NCAAs (more)